


Clove vs. The Cannon

by Bekarrr



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-06 20:29:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bekarrr/pseuds/Bekarrr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Career Tributes Clove and Glimmer strike up an unlikely friendship during the Hunger Games that turns into a passionate fight for survival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clove vs. The Cannon

Clove peeked around the tree, the knife hot in her palm. She could see Katniss by the river, washing her face in the water. She looked so deliciously vulnerable. It would barely be a challenge to send the knife sailing right into her ribcage. The cannon would go off and Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, would be no more than a body floating in a river. Clove had hated that nickname. It made Katniss seem better than everyone else, and if anyone was better than everyone else, well, it was obviously Clove. A bead of sweat ran from her palm down the hilt of the knife.  
‘Throw it,’ she told herself, ‘throw it and end her forever.’  
But the more Clove forced herself to say the words, forced her hand to close on the knife, she couldn’t bring herself to actually raise it. There was something about Katniss- the way her hair hung in sweaty tangles around her face; the deep, concentrated look she got when she’d held her bow in training, as if it was a part of her arm. There was a beautiful darkness in her eyes when she drew the arrow back, as if every part of her was set on her kill. This made her dangerous. This made her someone Clove had to kill, or be killed herself. Yet for some reason, she couldn’t raise the knife.   
Suddenly, there was a crunch in the leaves behind Clove. Katniss’ head shot up, and in one swift motion she grabbed her backpack and ran into the trees. Clove growled and turned angrily to face Glimmer, who was leaning against a tree, her face pouty with dramatic agitation.  
“You were watching her again,” Glimmer jabbed, her tone riddled with accusations. Clove shook them off and flipped the knife in her palm.   
“I was gonna get her this time. I would have if you’d managed to be quiet for once,” Clove grumbled, shoving the knife back in her belt.  
“I thought you didn’t like it when I was quiet,” Glimmer smirked and took a step towards Clove, who pushed her back against the tree and continued through the forest.  
“I don’t like you at all,” Clove said under her breath, hacking away at tree limbs with her knife as she walked. Glimmer crept up behind her and wrapped her arms around Clove’s waist.   
“Now, we both know that’s not true,” Glimmer whispered in Clove’s ear. Clove tried to brush her off, but Glimmer turned her around and slammed her against a tree trunk. Clove glared, her grip tightening on the knife as she hit the tree.   
“What?” Glimmer challenged, her lips dangerously close to Clove’s, “Are you going to kill me? Or are we going to have a little fun?”  
Glimmer’s face was about an inch from Clove’s now, and Clove studied her intently. How someone stuck in a hot, humid forest could still be so enthrallingly beautiful puzzled her more than anything else in the arena. Glimmer’s freckled cheeks were flushed pink with sunlight, and her hazel eyes changed colors with the time of day. Right now they were crystal gray, and Clove was so drawn in to them she was sure Glimmer could have stabbed her then and she wouldn’t have felt it. Clove closed her eyes, took a breath, and raised the knife. The last sight she caught was Glimmer’s stunning, ivory smile as she brought the knife down on the front of the girl’s shirt.   
“Silly,” Glimmer tsked as she inspected the tear in her uniform where Clove had artfully cut to her bra, “I only have one of these, you know. You could have just asked.”   
Clove placed the knife between her teeth and reached down to the bottom of Glimmer’s shirt, then pulled it over her head and threw it on the ground.  
“Now it’s going to be all dirty!” Glimmer pouted. Clove rolled her eyes, then grabbed Glimmer behind the waist and spun her so that she was now pinned against the tree trunk. The knife still pressed against her teeth, Clove ran her hands over Glimmer’s stomach, studying every muscle and scar. At least if Cato or Marvel came, Glimmer’s perfection would cause enough of a distraction for Clove to turn around and stab them both. Maybe this affair could actually save their lives. That is, until they got down to the two of them. Then Clove would have to kill Glimmer. It would be easy. Glimmer was a much better lover than she would ever be a fighter. It was the Everdeen bitch who was the real problem. When Clove looked up again, Glimmer was glaring at her.  
“You’re thinking again, stop it,” Glimmer groaned. She reached up for the knife between Clove’s teeth, but before her hand could even make it halfway, Clove had the knife in her hand and secured back in her belt. Glimmer could touch a lot of things. The knife was not one of them.  
The second the dagger had been removed from her teeth, Clove lunged forward, throwing Glimmer back against the tree and kissing her so hard Glimmer gasped in pleasant surprise. Glimmer grabbed a handful of Clove’s hair and pulled her deeper into the kiss, which had turned less into a kiss and more into a competition of whose mouth could cover the most ground. Glimmer may not know how to work a knife, but she certainly knew how to use her tongue, Clove mused as she worked her way down Glimmer’s jawline, then bit down on her neck. Glimmer’s gasp turned into a soft squeal of pleasure, and Clove found even herself grinning as she kissed the bruised. Suddenly, there was a crack behind them. Clove turned away from Glimmer, her hand shooting to the knife in her belt. Glimmer laughed, watching as Clove turned fiercely, looking for the source of the source of the sound.  
“Calm down! It’s probably just a Mockingjay,” Glimmer laughed. Clove’s piercing black eyes scanned the trees.  
“Assuming’s how you get killed,” Clove growled back, spinning around to survey the other side of the forest.   
“No,” Glimmer asserted, sticking out a foot so that Clove stumbled backwards to the ground. Glimmer threw herself on top of her, straddling her on the forest floor and holding a an arrow to her throat. The point drew a small bead of blood at Clove’s throat, and for a moment Clove’s eyes widened in genuine fear. This would be a turn of events, Clove thought, beginning to panic. Maybe Glimmer is smarter than I thought. Maybe this really is the end.   
Glimmer brought the arrow down the slightest bit deeper into Clove’s throat, and a trickle of blood streamed out of it and down the side of her neck. Clove stared into her cold gray eyes, berating herself for letting things get this out of hand. What a stupid, thoughtless way to go. Still straddling her, Glimmer brushed a strand of dark hair away from Clove’s ear and whispered, “Gotcha.”   
Glimmer raised the arrow away from Clove’s neck and threw it on the ground beside her, then leaned down slowly so that her face was hanging just a few inches over Clove’s. She hovered there for a moment and smiled, her soft blonde hair tickling the tip of Clove’s nose. Suddenly the entire arena seemed to disappear. All there was was a silly girl with sunburnt cheeks and hazel eyes who wanted to have a little fun before she died. And I’ll kill you, Clove thought. If it comes down to it, I’ll kill you. But first...  
And they kissed, but this time it wasn’t the fast, fierce blur that felt like time was running out. This time it really seemed like it could almost be the beginning of something, and Clove, against her will, felt that maybe she really could stay here forever. And then, somewhere in the distant, a cannon sounded, and the world was real again. Clove sat up, pushed Glimmer off her, and grabbed for the knife at her belt. The hilt fit right into her palm like the missing piece of puzzle. It was the only way she would ever feel whole.   
“Where are you going?” Glimmer asked, her eyes watching Clove with something that seemed almost loving.   
Clove turned around and swung the knife through the air. It landed in the tree trunk just inches from Glimmer’s golden hair.   
“Next time I don’t miss,” Clove warned fiercely, although her voice threatened to break any moment.   
Then she was sprinting through the trees, searching for anything she could kill and whispering to herself, ‘God, I hope that cannon was for Everdeen.’

___

Glimmer ran one hand through Clove’s tangled black hair, while the other gently traced the inside of Clove’s palm. Her head rested softly on Clove’s chest, rising and falling with every breath. Clove was tempted to lift her own hand and brush a piece Glimmer’s golden hair behind her ear, but that would mean letting go of the knife, and that was out of the question. Glimmer had drifted off into a half sleep, and would occasionally mumble quietly. Most of the time she would whisper something about begging not to volunteer, something about how she wasn’t ready. Mostly, she just cried ‘Please.’ She had sounded so sincere, so painfully desperate, that the thought of protecting Glimmer till the end, then killing herself so she could survive, had crossed Clove’s mind. It had been a fleeting thought, though, so fleeting it went as soon as it came, and Clove had thought next about slitting her throat right there just to end the doubt. But then Glimmer had turned so that her head rested on Clove’s chest and her fingers intertwined in Clove’s, and the thought of slitting throats passed as well. Someone will kill you, Clove thought. Someone will kill you, or maybe someone will kill me, but it won’t come down to us. It can’t.  
Glimmer stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw Clove and tightened her grip on her hand.   
“You’re awake,” Glimmer murmured, her voice still sleepy.  
“Someone’s got to keep watch,” Clove returned coldly. Never show her you might care. Never show yourself.   
“You sleep, I’ll keep watch,” Glimmer offered. Clove nearly snorted with laughter. Glimmer’s idea of keeping watch was falling asleep five seconds in. They’d both be dead in a minute. And Clove still wasn’t completely sure this wasn’t all just a ploy for Glimmer to get her vulnerable, than attack while she was defenseless.   
“I’m fine. Go back to sleep,” Clove said sternly. Glimmer kept her gaze trained on Clove’s cold black eyes, her pink lips curved into a small smile.   
“I want to look at you,” Glimmer said. Clove stared at her, confused.   
“What?”  
“I want to look at you,” Glimmer repeated, sitting up on her elbow and grinning down at Clove. “As far as I’m concerned, the world is ending. I want you to be the last thing I see.”  
Clove felt a strange knot in her throat, something she hadn’t felt since the Reaping.  
All she could come up with was a weak, “You might not die.”  
“I will. This isn’t my game. It’s yours. Or Cato’s. Maybe Katniss’s, I don’t know. It’s not mine,” There was something in Glimmer’s tone that changed the way Clove looked at her just then. Glimmer had always played herself off to be this ditzy, confident little bad girl, but there was suddenly a very real understanding in her eyes that hurt to see. Inside, Glimmer was destroyed. Inside, she knew had never been built to save herself. Clove remembered her whispers from earlier, when she had been asleep. Please, Glimmer had said, I just want to go home.   
Clove stood up and tightened the grip on her knife. Glimmer watched her, her round hazel eyes growing frantic.  
“Where are you going?” she asked quietly.  
“To find Cato and Marvel. We should stick together.”  
“I don’t want to find Cato or Marvel.” Glimmer pouted.   
“It’ a game, Glimmer,” Clove growled at her, too harshly. “You don’t win from begging.” Clove tightened the laces on her boots, then started through the forest alone. She couldn’t see Glimmer again, she knew that. There was too much she couldn’t feel right now, too much that got in the way. Suddenly, a flash of bright pink caught the corner of Clove’s eye. She reached her into her pocket and pulled out a small flower. Glimmer must have slipped it in there at some point during the afternoon. Throw it away. What’s the point? Forget everything and concentrate.  
Clove shut her eyes and closed her hand around the small flower. It was warm in her palm. It can’t hurt, she thought, as she slipped the flower back in her pocket. Or at least, it can’t hurt any more than it does now. 

___

Clove stared down at Glimmer’s swollen body. It had grotesquely puffed several shades of purplish gray, and spidery veins had risen and burst in her face and neck and hands. Where are you? Clove wondered, dazed as she stared at the body. You were here five minutes ago. Where did you go?  
The only thing that was the same was the hair; still golden blonde, still in those two tangled braids, although now the braids stretched awkwardly over the extra expanse of head the venom had caused. Her pale gray eyes were still open and even though they had lost their usual glow, for a moment Clove clung to the idea that maybe Glimmer was still in there, somewhere. The cannon had been a mistake. Glimmer was fine. Glimmer would be up fighting in a minute. Wake up, you idiot. Get up. We’re right in the middle here. You can’t stop fighting now.   
Clove looked down and noticed Glimmer’s hand where the fingers had been pried open. Her bow was gone and so were the arrows. Katniss. Clove felt her stomach lurch- the name felt like searing acid. Katniss had done this. Katniss had dropped the tracker jackers that hurt Glimmer.  
Killed? No. Glimmer isn’t dead. Glimmer will be up any second.  
Katniss had wrenched the bow from Glimmer’s hand, stolen her arrows. Katniss had touched Glimmer, desecrated her. Clove felt her face grow hot, and her eyes start to burn. She would destroy Katniss. Not just kill, and not quickly. She would tear her apart- maybe take that little boyfriend of hers and cut him to pieces while Katniss watched. Let her see how it feels. Let her know what this is like. Let her know what she took from me. 

The Games had barely begun. Sure, half the tributes were already dead, but those were the weak ones. The ones who didn’t stand a chance. Now that they were eliminated the real fight had begun. The alliance had made Clove uncomfortable from the start, but she’d always known to expect it. It seemed strange to her to team up with people she’d eventually have to murder. Every career knew it. From the moment they joined up, they’d come in knowing they’d all turn on each other in a second. As far as Clove was concerned, this whole alliance was just a better way to find her opponents weaknesses, and in the mean time eliminate everyone else who got in the way.   
Clove had to admit, this year careers were truly impressive. Cato was almost God-like in his terror, but Clove had known that long before the games. It would come down to the two of them in the end, that was clear. He would destroy her if he got her in reaching distance, but she could strike from afar. She’d already seen it in her head a thousand times; that last knife flying through the air into his chest. The sound of the cannon and the announcement of her victory. Cato was a magnificent fighter. It would be an honor to kill him. She wasn’t so certain about Marvel and Glimmer. Marvel was somewhat of a clown, but he was strong and there was a craziness to him that made his strength unpredictable. As for the girl, Clove hadn’t quite been able to figure out what her strength was, or what even made her worthy of being a career. She couldn’t shoot, she was as good at hand-to-hand combat as Clove had been before she’d ever started training. She did had a nice smile, and she’d shown it to Cato enough. Perhaps she was planning to flirt everyone to death.   
It was Clove’s curiosity in Glimmer’s apparent lack of ability to do anything that caused her to volunteer to tag along when Cato ordered Glimmer to get wood for a fire. She’d stayed a few feet behind as Glimmer skipped through the woods, looking for fallen branches. The girl was literally skipping. It must have been a sad year for careers in District 1, Clove thought to her own amusement as she watched Glimmer’s braids swing from side to side as she moved through the trees. After a moment, Glimmer slowed down and turned to smile enthusiastically at Clove. This is it, Clove smirked, this is when she tries to smile me to death. You’re not as charming as you think you are, Blondie.  
“It’s a nice night,” Glimmer grinned, looking around, “A little balmy, which is pretty much a death sentence for my hair. We’re celebrities now, you know. Got to keep up appearances!”   
Clove raised an eyebrow. Was this girl for real? She should be in the Capitol drinking purple martinis and talking about the latest hair dye, not fighting to the death in the middle of a fake forest. But she is. And she’s smiling. Maybe that’s her strength.  
When she snapped out of her thoughts, she noticed Glimmer was watching her, head cocked to one side and a curious expression on her doll-like face.   
“You don’t talk much, do you?” Glimmer asked. Her voice was bright, and there was a friendly comfort in it. But friendship was how people died here. In the arena, there was no such thing as real trust.   
“I talk when I have something to say,” Clove shot back quickly.  
“Ah. I guess there’s not much to say here other than HYAHH!” Glimmer turned and shot a hand out at the air, then mimicked twisting a knife into an invisible gut. Against her will, the corner of Clove’s lip turned up into a smile. She quickly wiped it away. Glimmer was standing in the middle of the woods, laughing at her little game.   
“No,” Clove said, still trying to suppress the smile, “I guess not.”  
“And you’re an intense one,” Glimmer continued, punching at the air, “I bet I should be scared of you.”  
You’re right about that, Clove thought, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she just stared at the crumpled leaves on the ground. There was a frightening charm about Glimmer. The best thing to do would be to look away.  
“You know what I’m good at?” Glimmer said, ducking out of her spar with the night air and turned to thoughtfully to Clove, “I’m great at the piano. Not so much singing, but I really can play.”   
Clove bent down to pick up some sticks for the fire, trying to block out the soft warmth in Glimmer’s voice.  
“Oh, hey, how about this? Maybe the sponsors can send a piano down, and I’ll play everyone into distraction while you wipe them all out with those knives of yours. Sound good?” Glimmer asked. Clove looked up from her stick collecting right in time to catch Glimmer wink at her.   
“Sounds great,” Clove said back. This girl was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a danger. And she was entertaining, at least.   
“So, piano. Check. I’m sure you’ve already got the knives. Hm, I wonder what I should play. What says, ‘Listen to this instead of trying not to die!’ Any ideas?”  
Glimmer stared eagerly at Clove, as though she actually expected an answer. In fact, she looked so genuinely interested Clove had to laugh. The sound of it coming out of her mouth surprised her more than anything in the games had.   
“Well?” Glimmer urged.  
“I don’t know,” Clove returned, “Beethoven?”  
And then for some reason, Glimmer was standing right in front of Clove, flashing that silly, beautiful smile. Clove couldn’t move a muscle. She could kill me, Clove felt herself think. She could kill me right now.  
But Glimmer didn’t do anything more than smile, and in one quick moment, lean in and touch her lips gently to Clove’s. She stayed there for a moment, eyes closed, then broke away and smiled again, giggling.  
“Yes! Fire stuff!” and Glimmer was off, sprinting through the trees on a sudden and dedicated quest for sticks. Clove stood for a moment, lost for words and blushing fiery red, and then she too was darting through the trees, trying to keep the hopeless, child-like blonde girl in sight. As long as they were both in this game, Clove would have to keep an eye on her. Silly, stupid Glimmer, Clove thought to herself, but she was still blushing, and her heart was beating just a little bit faster than it ever had before. 

 

Clove looked back down at Glimmer. Her glazed gray eyes were still open, though Clove knew they couldn’t see a thing. Get up, Clove urged. Enough of this, get up. Clove knelt down on the forest floor beside Glimmer’s body, her own quivering beyond her control. Clove reached out her hand and intertwined her fingers in Glimmer’s frozen, broken ones. Get up. Get up, you silly, stupid girl.   
Clove broke away from Glimmer and stood, turning frantically, searching for any sign of help. A parachute, something. The cannon was wrong. Glimmer wasn’t dead. This wasn’t real. None of this was real. Glimmer- beautiful, confident Glimmer who played piano and loved nice dresses and didn’t want her hair to look frizzy on TV. Frightened, hopeless Glimmer who cried every night for home. Who never wanted to be here in the first place. Who knew this would happen long before Clove had ever accepted it would. The cannon was wrong. Glimmer wasn’t dead. The cannon was wrong.   
“The cannon was wrong,” Clove whispered, this time out loud. The sound of her voice surprised her. It sounded lost, broken. Hopeless.   
“Help!” Clove called, her voice splitting in two in its panic, “the cannon was wrong!”  
But when she turned around to hold Glimmer, to beg her to move, to plead with her to stand up and keep fighting, the body was gone. They’d taken her away. Immediately, Clove’s hand shot to the knife in her belt. Katniss did this, and now Katniss would pay with everything she had. Clove reached her free hand up to her face and wiped the wetness away from her eyes as she started off into the woods to plot her kill.   
The cannon was wrong.


End file.
